Close
Full Cardiac Detail at Half the Dose
The difference between wasted radiation and full cardiac detail at half the dose?
Dual Source CT.
Lowest possible radiation is an important benefit for both you and your patients. With SOMATOM Definition, we have designed an exceptional solution that can deliver double the power, but needs only half the dose for cardiac applications – without any compromise in image quality.
As Dual Source CT images the heart twice as fast, our newly developed adaptive ECG-controlled dose modulation can apply the dose necessary for excellent cardiac imaging in less than half the time compared to today’s most dose-efficient single source CT scanners. In addition, Dual Source CT allows you to avoid the high-dose needs of multisegment reconstruction caused by imaging every position of the heart multiple times.
Because SOMATOM Definition adapts the table speed according to the heart rate of the patient, cardiac dose is automatically reduced as heart rate increases.
How It Works
In cardiac CT, SOMATOM Definition uses two X-ray sources simultaneously, each one with conventional dose settings. The following two steps, however, can more than compensate the presumed doubling of exposure.
Using two X-ray sources at the same time doubles the dose, but reduces the ECG-pulsing window by more than half. The result is higher temporal resolution although the dose applied does not exceed the dose of single source scanners.
To overcome insufficient temporal resolution at high heart rates, single source CT scanners use multisegment reconstruction resulting in high dose and limited reliability. Dual Source CT, on the other hand, always acquires cardiac images from single heartbeats. Therefore, it can automatically adjust the table speed to the heart rate of the patient. The result: the higher the heart rate, the less dose is needed.
Adaptive ECG-Pulsing, our innovative heartbeat-controlled dose modulation, applies the exact dose necessary to collect data projections of 180 degrees during the diastolic phase. Its real-time monitoring of the ECG enables a fully automated dose adjustment, instantly reacting to changes and abnormalities of the heartbeat. Now that data collection is twice as fast with Dual Source CT, the time of high exposure during each heartbeat can be cut by more than half compared to single source CT scanners.
Instead of using multisegment reconstruction at higher heart rates, Dual Source CT’s highest temporal resolution always allows you to acquire cardiac images from single heartbeats, at any heart rate. Unlike single source CT scanners, SOMATOM Definition
automatically adjusts the table speed to the heart rate of the patient prior to the scan. It increases the pitch with higher heart rates, resulting in a faster table speed and a corresponding reduction of dose exposure. In other words, the higher the heart rate, the less time is required for imaging the heart, and consequently, lower dose is needed.
Clinical Benefits
Economic Benefits
Technical Benefits
Depends on system configuration. *Results may vary. Data on file. ** Typical regular heart rate of 80 bpm, 12 cm scan range, male patient, small ECG-Pulsing window.
